Colombian President Uribe to ask US for longer trafficking sentences

Uribe to ask US for longer trafficking sentences 2008-08-02 04:42:04 - CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Friday he wants the United States to be tougher on cocaine traffickers extradited from this South American nation. In the past, Colombian officials have been more concerned that the U.S. would impose penalties tougher than those provided for by Colombian law. But today, Uribe said, extradited drug suspects too often cut deals with U.S. prosecutors for shorter terms and then leave prison «to live like a king. Washington's staunchest ally in Latin America, Uribe called the sentences «a joke» and said he plans to ask U.S. justice officials for a «severe minimum penalty. Some Colombian paramilitary bosses accused of drug trafficking have negotiated 19-year sentences after being extradited to the United States. Colombia has sent nearly 900 drug suspects to the United States in the past five years. An extradition treaty between the two countries mandates that U.S. sentences not exceed what Colombia's judicial system allows. Colombia is the recipient of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid, which it uses to fight drug trafficking and leftist guerrillas involved in a decades-long conflict with the government. Uribe spoke at a regional drug summit in the Colombian port city of Cartagena, which included the presidents of Mexico, three Central American nations and the Dominican Republic, as well as representatives from more than a dozen other countries. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has criticized U.S. drug policy in the region, had said he would attend but canceled at the last minute citing unspecified security concerns.